Swiss Journal of Research in Business and Social Sciences

Movie News

Taika Waititi’s Sci-Fi Film Pulled From Theaters After $15 Per Screen



What the box-office figures reveal

  • Klara and the Sun’s earnings remained below $3 million worldwide, according to the reported total.
  • Opening weekend brought in $701,000, followed by $157,000 in the second weekend.
  • Reported budget estimates reached as high as $44 million, while the final reported daily gross was just over $13,000.
  • Release changes followed poor reviews, and the film ultimately opened in fewer than 900 theaters on October 23.

This article summarizes Klara and the Sun’s reported box-office performance, reviews and release history, while placing the film in the context of director Taika Waititi’s recent work.

Taika Waititi rose to prominence after revitalizing the Thor series with his distinctive take on the straight-faced superhero in Thor: Ragnarok. The film is often regarded as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s notable successes. Its reception gave Waititi considerable creative latitude on the follow-up, Thor: Love and Thunder, and on the acclaimed comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit. Waititi won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Jojo Rabbit, but two subsequent films underperformed both critically and commercially.

Alongside Thor: Love and Thunder, which earned less at the box office than its predecessor and drew criticism for its broad approach, Waititi directed two films positioned as awards contenders in the vein of Jojo Rabbit. That earlier film grossed more than $90 million worldwide against a reported $14 million budget. By contrast, both follow-ups faced production challenges and struggled commercially. The first, the sports drama Next Goal Wins, was delayed for more than a year before earning $18 million worldwide against a reported $14 million budget.

Waititi’s more recent film performed so poorly in theaters that distributor Sony stopped reporting its grosses after two weeks. Klara and the Sun is based on a science-fiction novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro and stars six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega, known for Netflix’s Wednesday. Despite its cast, the film received poor reviews. Reports said Sony canceled its planned wide release and global rollout, and the film eventually opened in fewer than 900 theaters on October 23.

COLLIDERInteractive

Long-range scan active

Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment

Collider Survival Assessment
Which Sci-Fi World
Would You Survive?

8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict

Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in.
Worlds in range

▦︎The Matrix

◈︎Mad Max

◑︎Blade Runner

▲︎Dune

✦︎Star Wars

Question 01 of 08INSTINCT

The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move?
No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 02 of 08RESOURCE

You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it?
Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY

How do you handle the people in charge?
Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT

Pick the place you would rather wake up in:
You will be there a while.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE

Who do you want standing next to you?
Pick one. You only get one.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 07 of 08MORALITY

Which line would you cross to survive?
Everybody crosses one.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Question 08 of 08PURPOSE

What are you really fighting for?
Last question. Make it count.






Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance

Scan completeYou would survive

▦︎
The Matrix
The Resistance, Zion
You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him.
From the Collider file

  • The Wachowskis’ 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film
    Editing.
  • Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the
    actors.
  • Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot,
    recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
  • It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the
    world in front of you.

Red pill energy
Pattern spotter
Built to question

◈︎
Mad Max
The Wasteland
Oh, what a day. What a lovely day.

You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily.
From the Collider file

  • Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
  • George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a
    script.
  • The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and
    real stunt performers.
  • Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.
See also  Resident Evil Fans Should Explore This New Nightmare Before Zach Cregger Movie

Keeps moving
Improviser
Good with engines

◑︎
Blade Runner
Los Angeles, 2049
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense.
From the Collider file

  • Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth
    nomination.
  • The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott’s 1982 original.
  • Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever
    he could.
  • Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the
    two movies.

Keeps her head down
Private
Noir soul

▲︎
Dune
Arrakis
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught.
From the Collider file

  • Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and
    Original Score.
  • Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan’s Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
  • Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher
    Walken.
  • David Lynch’s 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unmade one are both their
    own legends by now.

Plays the long game
Reads the room
Patient

✦︎
Star Wars
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Rebellions are built on hope.

You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks’ problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon’s crew to the Ghost’s, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together.
From the Collider file

  • The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
  • John Williams’ score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the
    best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever.
  • Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both
    seasons.
  • The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.

Collects people
Shows up
Hope merchant

Compatibility readout · top three

1

2

3

Scan filed byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Sci-Fi Desk

How much has Klara and the Sun earned at the box office?

Klara and the Sun opened with $701,000 over its first weekend and earned a further $157,000 in its second. Sony stopped reporting daily grosses by November 5. The film’s reported worldwide total remained below $3 million, against a reported budget as high as $44 million. Its last reported daily gross was just over $13,000, equivalent to a reported per-theater average of about $15.

Klara and the Sun received poor reviews and holds a 26% Rotten Tomatoes score in the source account. The site’s consensus criticized the film’s broad tone for flattening the source novel’s nuanced ideas. Waititi also posted a note on Instagram criticizing people who disliked the film.

Klara and the Sun’s theatrical earnings were reported as less than $3 million, while its reported production budget reached as high as $44 million. Those figures indicate a substantial gap between reported box-office revenue and the reported budget, but they do not by themselves establish the film’s complete financial result.

See also  Miami Vice Remake Officially Casts Villain by Maverick Director

What are the film’s release details?

The film’s listed release date is October 23, 2026, and its runtime is 116 minutes. The article also reports that Sony canceled the planned wide release and global rollout after poor reviews.

Klara and the Sun is listed with a 116-minute runtime and an October 23, 2026 release date.

What was Klara and the Sun’s reported worldwide box office?
The film’s reported worldwide total was less than $3 million.
How much did Klara and the Sun earn in its opening weekend?
The film earned $701,000 in its opening weekend and $157,000 in its second.
What is Klara and the Sun based on?
The film is based on a science-fiction novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro.


xqovj2p6hrsghxn81qyayf4stgm.jpg


Release Date

October 23, 2026

Runtime

116 minutes


best barefoot shoes

[nospin]Read the original article; the photographs and images used here are also sourced from it. We did not create them and use them solely for informational purposes with attribution to their original source.[/nospin]

LEAVE A RESPONSE

Sarah Parker
Sarah Parker is a research analyst and content contributor with a strong interest in business strategy, organizational behavior, and social development. With a background in sociology and public policy, she focuses on exploring the intersection between research and real-world application. Sarah regularly contributes articles that bridge academic insights and practical relevance, aiming to foster critical thinking and innovation across sectors.